Mirror plating apparatus



Aug. 30, 1938.

W. OWEN .MIRROR PLATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 13, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 W Mig/mw H'TTO NEW/6..

Aug. 3o, 193s. w. OWEN 2,128,713

MIRROR PLATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. l5, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 31 30- Jg/w 31 30 31 .as K 26 99 3e o o- E g' /l o` o "95--49 o o o A o o 9d o o o Q o o o o o o o o o o 2? 0 0 0 Q v Q o o O o 0 O o o. l

/N VEN TOI! 1J/1 1.. 27M OWEN BV v A44-,0.47 HTTOIQ NEFJ.

Aug. 3o, 1938. W QWEN 2,128,713

MIRROR PLATING APPARATUS F'iledv Aug. 15, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 51u/ I I l l I U l 'l E l l| I \1f Ng I 3 Q E51: H) )a vg wi m o* /NvENTo/Q s ALL/HM Owe/v @y @A di I 7/ Aug. 30, wl QWEN 2,128,713

MIRROR PLATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 13, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 VEN TO R wn.. 1 IHM OUJEN HTT'OQNE'VJ.

Patented Aug. 3o, 1938y UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE Application August 13, 1937, Serial No. 158,919

5 Claims.

The invention relates to apparatus for electroplating the silvered surfaces of mirrors, ordinarily with copper, although there is no limitation in this respect in so far as the apparatus 5 is concerned. The invention has for its objects the provision of improved apparatus for carrying out the electro deposition with the mirror plates in upright position, which is of cheap, simple construction and permitting of the safe i and convenient shifting of the glass plates into and out of the plating bath. A further object is the provision of apparatus occupying a minimum of floor 'space in relation to its capacity, readily operated by one operator without danger of 5 breakage of the glass plates or injury to the reflector lms thereon. The foregoing and other objects which 'will be apparent to those skilled in the art are accomplished by the apparatus, the preferred embodiment of which is shown l' in the accompanying drawings, wherein: v

Figure 1 is a partial front elevation and partial section on the line I-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line II-H of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of the glass shifting l5 rack, Fig. 3 being a front elevation and Fig. 4 an end elevation. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken at the upper edge of the front wall of the tank. Figs. 6 and -7 are detail fragmentary views, Fig. 6 being a front elevation and Fig. 7

3 a section on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6. And Figs. f8 and 9 are enlarged detail views of one of the electrical connections, Fig. 8 being a front elevation and Fig. 9 a side elevation.

The tank is of the upright type being tilted 35 slightly to the rear, as indicated in Fig. 2 and including a front wall I0 and a rear wall II. The tank is supported upon a framework of A shape comprising two pairs of uprights IIa' and I2 tied together at their upper ends by the i0 strips I3, I3 (Fig. 1).

members IIa and I2 aretied together by the strips I4, I4, which serve to give the apparatus a relativelywide base. The two sets of members IIa and I2 are secured together by the trans- 45`verse strips I5, I5 (Fig. 2) and I6, I1.

i The bottom closure of the tank is a board I8 underneath which is located a plurality of wedges I9, I9, I9. The frame members IIa, Ila'at the two ends o'f the tank constitute the end walls of 50 the tank (Fig. 1). Secured to thefront wall I0 of the tankgis a rack support consisting of the three members 20, 20, provided with toes 2I at their lower ends for supporting the rack,

, which is later described. rI'he boards 22 and 23 55 (Figs. 10and 2) constitute the bottom andvfront At the lower ends thewall of a trough for receiving the drainage fro the rack, such trough being provided at its end with a drainage pipe 24. The tank itself is provided at one end of its bottom portion with a drainage pipe which is not shown.

The rack carrying the glass, which in loading rests upon the toes 2l, as shown in dotted lines at A in Fig. 2, is constructed as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, and comprises a plurality of parallel bars pinned at their ends to the pipes 26 and 21. The bars are provided on their front sides with sockets 28 for receiving the pins 28a (Fig. 4) so that by a suitable arrangement of such pins, any desired size and number of glass sheets may be carried on the rack. In some cases, only one large sheet will be carried' on the rack, and in other cases, a number of small sheets, and in such cases the pins may be adjusted to suit requirements. Also secured to the upper end of the rack is a metal angle strip 29, to which the leads 30,

30 for supplying current are connected. In using Y the apparatus, -suitable wires are connected to the strip 29tcarrying at their ends connectors for making contact with the metal lms on the glass sheets. One type of such connectors are shown in Figs. 8 and 9, later described. The rack is moved vertically to a position so that it can be shifted into the tank by means of a pair of cables 3|, 3| attached to the ends of the pipe 26 and leading around a pair of sheaves 32 mounted for rotation on a hollow shaft 33 in the upper end of the A-frame. These cables extend downwardly on the rear side of the A-frame and are secured toa pair of drums 34, 34 mounted on a transverse shaft 35 just above the rear wall of the tank. This shaft is provided with a handle 36 for raising and lowering the rack, a pin 31 being provided fitting in a socket in the frame for holding the handle in a position shown in Fig. 2 when the rack is in raised position, as indicated in dotted lines at B in Fig. 2. In order to counterweight the rack, a second pair of cables 38,38 are attached to the ends of the pipe 26 and extend up over the sheaves 39, 39 also mounted on the shaft 33. These cables loop around the drums 34 and are secured at their ends 4to a transverse metal bar 40 which constitutes the counterweight. The leads 30 are attached at their ends to a .bar 4I (Fig. 1) carried by the side members 42, 42, the members 42, 42 being bolted at their ends to the-A-frame. The terminals onthe bar 4I are supplied with current from the lead 44.

Pivotally supported upon theshaft 33 is a. guard and shifting plate 45 having upon its front face the three guide strips 46, 46, 46. Connection i's made between the upper edge of the board 45v and the shaft 33 by means of the straps 41, which'loop around the shaft and are bolted to the board, as indicated in Fig. 7. When the rack with its load of mirror plates is moved to upper position, as indicated at B in Fig. 2, the plate 45 occupies the dotted line position indicated at C in Fig. 2, the board at such time being in aline- 'ment with the front faces of the members 20, so

that the strips 46 on the front of the board act as a track upon which the rack slides in movingmup and down between positions A and B. Means are provided for shifting the plate 45 from the dotted A line position C to the full line position shown in Fig. 2, in which latter position, the board is in alinement with the rear walll H ofthe tank. This .means comprises two pairs of toggle links 48 and 49 pivoted together at 50, the links 48 being pivoted to the A-frame on the pipe 5I and the links 49 being pivoted to the plate at 52. The plate 45 is reinforced at its upper and lower edges by the transverse battens 53 and 54 and when the plate is in the full line position shown in Fig. 2, the batten 53 engages a stop strip 54av secured to the upper wall of the tank Ii. The pipe 5I which carries the links 48 is provided at its end with a handle 55. When it is desired to shift the plate 45 from its full line position to the dotted line position C of Fig. 2, the handle 55 is swung in a counter-clockwise direction, thus moving the links 49 to the left and bringing the plate to the dotted line position. When this position is reached,.the links 48 and 49 are inalinement and stop pins 55a on the links 49 engage the tops of the links 48 so that the parts when moved to the dotted line position C are mainiained in such position by the 4alinement of the After the plate 45 is swung to the full line position shown in Fig. 2, the rack carrying the glass plates is lowered to the full line position E (Fig. 2) inside the tank and surrounded by the electrolytic bath which is of the usual character. In the downward movement into the tank, the rack lies againstl the guides 46, 46, 46 on the plate 45 and also against corresponding guide strips 56 (Fig. 1) secured to the front face of the back wall Il of the tank. At this time the silvered faces of the glass sheets lie in opposition to the front wall I0 of the tank, and such wall is provided with an anode preferably in the form of a copper sheet 51, which may be made up of one sheet or a plurality of sheets, and covers substantially the entire face of the wall I0. This plate fits in behind the bar 58 at its lower end, and at its upper end is bent around a metal bar 59 mounted in the upper edge of the member I0, as indicated in Fig. 5, the turned over edge of the plate 51 being secured by means of the machine screws 60. Suitable connection rfor supplying current to the bar 59 is provided in the form of the leads 6I attached to the ends of the bar, as indicated in Fig. 1. The bottom wall I8 of the tank is secured .against the lower edges of the front and rear walls I 0 and Il of the tank by means of the bolts 62 (Fig. 5), which extend longitudinally of such members I0 and Il and carry the nuts 63 seated in recesses 64 in the upper edges of the walls.

Figs. 8 and 9 show the preferred means for making connection between the silvered surface of the glass plate 65 and the wires 66 which lead down from the bar 29 heretofore referred to. These wires are electrically connected at their lower ends to bolts 61 carried by small lvacuum cups 68. The nut 69, which clamps the end of the wire 66, also holds a leaf spring 10 whose upper end 1| bears against the rear face of the glass sheet. The lower end of this spring is recurved, as indicated at 12,',and makes contact with the metallic coating on the glass sheet. The clip device, as described, forms a convenient means of making the necessary connection with the silvered fil-m, but it will be understood that other forms of clips well known in the art may be substituted, all that is necessary being a suitable releasable connection at intervals along the edge of the plate.

The operation starting with the rack in position A of Fig. 2 is as follows: The rack now rests upon the toe 2| at the bottom of the tank and may be loaded with the silvered plate or plates which are to be electroplated. After the rack is loaded, connection is made between the Wires 66 leading from the bar 29 and the rack may now be shifted to the position E inside the tank for the plating operation. The shifting plate 45 being at this time at the dotted line position C, the handle 36 is operated to lift the rack to the dotted line position B with its lower end above the top of the tank. 'I'he handle 36 is now locked in position by the pin 31 and the handle 55, which operates the shifting links 48 and 49, is moved in a clockwise direction to the full line position of Fig. 2, thus swinging the plate 45 to the right and bringing the rack carrying the glass sheets into alinement with the open end of the tank. The pin 31 is next removed and the handle 36 is operated to lower the rack to the full line position E shown in Fig. 2, wherev it is left until the plating operation is completed. Upon the completion of the plating operation, the rack is raised by means of the handle 36, so that its lower end lies abovethe top of the tank, and upon shifting the handle 55 to thel left, the guide plate 45 is swung to position C so that the rack is in position to be lowered. This is accomplished by rotating the handle 36 until the rack reaches the dotted line position A when the plates may be removed, thus completing the cycle. The plate 45 not only acts as a shifting and guide means, but also as a drain board, the excess liquid on the rack and parts supported thereby draining along the front surface of the plate and back into the bath, while it is maintained for a short interval in thefull line position shown.

What I claim is: l

1. In combination in apparatus for electroplating glass sheets having metallic reflecting coatings thereo-n. a narrow upright tank for the electroplating bath, a guide and shifting plate mounted above the tank in alinement with the rear wall thereof and supported to permit it to be shifted forwardly so that it is in alinement with the front wall of the tank, means for shifting said plate back and forth, a rack support mounted on the front wall of the tank at an angle to the vertical, a glass rack adapted to be supported in loading position on said rack support in parallel therewith, lifting tackle mountedl adjacent the upper end of the guide and shifting plate for raising the glass rack and`lowering it into the tank and for raising it from the tank and lowering it onto the rack support, and an anode y in the tank adjacent the front wall thereof.

upper end of the guide and shifting plate for rais` ing the glass rack and lowering it into the tank and for raising it from the tank and lowering it onto the rack support, and an anode in the tank adjacent the front wall thereof.

3. In combination in apparatus for electroplating glass sheets having metallic reflecting coatings thereon, a narrow upright tank for the electroplating bath, a guide and shifting plate mountedabove the tank in alinement with the rear wall thereof and supported to permit it to be shifted forwardly so that it is in alinement with the front wall of the tank, means for shifting said plate back and forth, a rack support mounty ed on the front wall of the tank at an angle to the Vertical, a glass rack adapted tobe supported in loading position on said rack support in parallel therewith, lifting tackle mounted adjacent the upper end of the guide and shifting plate for raising the glass rack and lowering it into the tank and for raising it from the tank and lowering it onto the rack support, means for counter-weighting the rack, cathode connections carried by the rack, and an anode in the tank adjacent the front wall thereof.

4. In combination in apparatus for electroplat-` ing glass sheets having metallic reflecting coatings thereon, a narrow upright tank for the electroplating bath, tilted slightly to the rear'from the vertical, a guide and shifting plate mounted 'above the tank in alinement with the rear wall thereof adapted to drain into the tank and supported to permit it to be shifted forwardly so that it is in alinement with the front wall of the tank, means for shifting said plate back and forth, a rack support mounted on the front wall of the tank at an angle to the vertical, a glass rack adapted to be supported in loading position on said rack support in parallel therewith, lifting tackle mounted adjacent the upper end of the guide and shifting plate for raising the glass rack and loweringy it into the tank and for raising it from the tank and lowering it onto the rack support, and an anode in the tank adjacent the front wall thereof.

5. In combination in apparatus for electroplating glass sheets having metallic reflecting coatings thereon, a narrow upright tank for the electroplating bath, a guide and shifting plate mounted above the tank in alinernent with the rear wall thereof and supported to permit it to be shifted forwardly so that it is in alinement with the front wall of the tank, means for shifting said plate back and forth, a rack support mounted on the front wall of the tank at an angle 'to the vertical, a glass rack adapted to be supported in loading position on said rack support in parallel 

